Posted: Fri, Nov 4, 2005, 8:16 AM ET (1316 GMT)
The Japanese space agency JAXA cancelled Friday a close approach by the spacecraft Hayabusa to the asteroid Itokawa because of a technical problem with the spacecraft. According to a brief statement on the official project weblog, the descent of Hayabusa towards the asteroid was cancelled at the "go/nogo" decision point because of an "anomalous signal"; no further details about the problem were released. The cancellation also scrubbed the released of Minerva, a half-kilogram probe designed to land and hop around the surface. The close approach was intended to be a dress rehearsal for two brief landings on the surface of Itokawa, where the spacecraft would collect samples of the asteroid for return to Earth. Hayabusa has suffered some technical problems, including the failure of two of its three reaction control wheels, but spacecraft engineers were able to work around those problems.

Related Links:

•  BBC article
•  AP article
•  Hayabusa weblog